Explanation: The Earth has once again endured a burst of
particles from the Sun. The latest storm,
which began Monday, was one of the best documented solar storms
to date. At 10 am (EDT)
ground monitors of the SOHO
spacecraft, which continually monitors the Sun,
noticed a weak spot in the solar corona was buckling again, this
time letting loose
a large, explosive Coronal Mass Ejection
(CME). Almost simultaneously, NASA's WIND spacecraft
began detecting bursts of radio waves
from electrons
involved in this magnetic storm. Supersonic
waves rippled though the solar corona
as a puff of high energy gas shot out into the Solar System.
The above image
shows two photographs of the Sun
taken about 15 minutes apart and subtracted, highlighting the
explosion. The CME
gas will have little lasting effect on the Earth,
but might make this a good weekend to see an aurora.